Golden Shovels at the Altenheim
Gordon Laverty
Attended by civic officials, Citizens Housing Corporation leaders, Altenheim Association members, neighbors, representatives of private and public corporations financing the multimillion-dollar project, a golden-shovel groundbreaking celebration was held at the Altenheim site on January 17.

German Music Filled the Holidays
Gordon Laverty
"Festliche Weinacht," a lovely Christmas concert, filled Bjornson Hall on December 17 with wonderful music featuring the Oakland Turnverein Gemischter Chor (choir), directed by Diana Mayper. Peter Zackel was piano accompanist, and Fran Lai, soprano, soloist.

In Katrina's Wake
Madeline Smith Moore
Even before the holidays got into full swing, interest in the Katrina tragedy had begun to flag.Newspapers carried stories about the politics of the situation, but less and less about thepeople who had suffered through this unimaginable catastrophe.

New Business Improvement District in the Laurel
Helen Wyman
We are pleased to announce that the Laurel District Association has become the sixth Business Improvement District in the City of Oakland. The property owners on MacArthur Blvd., from 35th Ave. to High Street, have organized and voted to pay an addit.

Letters to the Editor
Disaster Preparedness Who is Responsible?
Why is the City of Oakland putting all of its disaster preparation in the form of Citizens Organized to Respond to Emergencies (CORE)? CORE only meets the needs of the most prepared segments of the population.There are many unprepared people in spite of numerous CORE classes.

Onions & Orchids
Peter Bond
Dear readers: This writer does search for individuals and businesses worthy of inclusion in this column, but he relies mostly on input from others. So please e-mail your ideas for Onions & Orchids to bpbond\@aol.com.Orchids to Ruben Aurelio, Princi.

New Park on Peralta Creek
John Frando
A core team of residents are working on Wisconsin Street and Rettig Avenue to create a native-plant demonstration garden and creek education center from a neglected city-owned patch of pampas grass, fennel, and Himalaya blackberry. Walk by often to s.